History

In 1914, our administrative litigation system originated in the Ping-jheng-yuan of the Peking Government. The Ping-jheng-yuan not only adjudicated administrative litigations, but also impeached government officials who violated the law, through a subordinate office, Su-jheng-shih. After the nation was unified and the central government organized a five- yuan (five-branch) system in 1928, impeachment cases became the domain of the Control Yuan. The Organic Law of the Administrative Court and the Administrative Litigation Act were promulgated on November 17, 1932 and took effect on June 23, 1933. On June 24, 1933, the Judicial Yuan issued the Regulations on the Operation of the Administrative Court. Established on September 1, 1933, the Administrative Court, adopting one-level one- instance court system, made final judgments of which there were no appeals or interlocutory appeals. As the Administrative Litigation Act had just 34 articles providing for only a few essential principles, many procedural aspects were governed by the Civil Procedure Act by way of reference in the Administrative Litigation Act. In July 1981, in response to the trend of the rule of law, and for the purpose of protecting people’s rights and interests, and promoting public interest, the Judicial Yuan started to overhaul the administrative litigation system. It took eleven years for drafts of the Administrative Litigation Act and the Organic Law of the Administrative Court to be completed. The new Administrative Litigation Act, promulgated on October 28, 1998 and taking effect on July 1, 2000, consisted of 308 articles. It abolished the second administrative appeal that had been mandatory prior to suing a government agency in an administrative court. In addition, it allowed more types of actions than the original actions for revocation, such as actions for declaration and actions to order performance etc. as well as expanded temporary protection of rights. The Organic Law of the Administrative Court, promulgated on February 3, 1999 and taking effect on July 1, 2000, adopted a two-level two-instance court system. Three High Administrative Courts, located in Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung, are courts of factual trial and the first instance. The former Administrative Court was transformed into this Court - Supreme Administrative Court, which is a court of legal review and the last instance. It has proved to be a significant reform of the administrative litigation system.

The Administrative Litigation Act was revised and promulgated again on July 4, 2007. The amendment adds rules as to filing fees and the transfer of cases under wrong jurisdiction, and modifies rules regarding retrial and legal representatives in litigation. When taking effect on August 15, 2007, the amendment set a milestone for administrative litigation system.

In order to protect intellectual property rights, the Intellectual Property Court was established on July 1, 2008, at the level of the High Court or High Administrative Court. The Intellectual Property Court hears all disputes related to intellectual property. According to the Organic Law of Intellectual Property Court §3 (3) (4) — a special provision regarding the jurisdiction over an intellectual property case of administrative litigation, the Intellectual Property Court hears intellectual property right related cases of administrative litigation at first instance and cases involving compulsory execution; cases heard by the Intellectual Property Court may be appealed or interlocutory appealed to Supreme Administrative Court.

The administrative litigation system of the Republic of China has adopted a two- level and two-instance court system for more than ten years. However, only three High Administrative Courts which are located in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung respectively are courts of the first instance. In order to reduce the inconvenience caused to people initiating litigations and to gradually have public law related cases reverted to the administrative adjudication, the Administrative Litigation Act was revised and promulgated on November 23, 2011 which subsequently took effect on September 6, 2012. The administrative litigation system has thus been revised to a three-level and two-instance system according to which administrative litigation division has been added to all district courts. The first instance of simple proceeding cases of administrative litigation and the related evidence preservation cases, injunctive procedure cases and compulsory execution cases are instead heard by the administrative litigation division of the district court. Traffic adjudication cases which were adjudicated by the ordinary court are now subject to the administrative litigation procedure. All of these offer more comprehensive protection for people’s right of instituting legal proceedings.